RS

MEMBER DIARY

Winners and Losers in Wisconsin

Wisconsinites – A tax increase to fill the budget gap has been averted. Massive layoffs of public service employees have been averted. The legislature has made a major step forward toward restoring fiscal responsibility and stewardship of the people’s money.

Good, Dedicated Teachers – No longer will layoffs be decided by seniority. No longer will union dues be automatically deducted from their paychecks. No more will great teachers like Megan Sampson be laid off two weeks after being named Outstanding First Year Teacher in Wisconsin because of the last-in, first-out requirement mandated in the collective bargaining agreement.

The Students – Bad teachers can now be booted regardless of seniority. Those surviving the layoff ax will be acutely aware they now have to actually perform to keep their jobs. There is no better incentivizer and motivator for teachers to be the best they can be than the fear of being canned for non-performance. There will be a measurable improvement in Wisconsin’s public education quality going forward.

Wisconsin Republicans- Early polling results are mixed-to-slightly negative for Republicans due to inflamed emotions and a high-intensity campaign blitz by unions and their membership to portray Governor Walker and Republican legislators as “union busters” out to destroy middle-class working Americans. That will subside when the budget is balanced, layoffs are avoided, and citizens see a tangible improvement in the quality of public education. Republicans will then be seen as heroes much like Mitch Daniels in Indiana after signing an executive order to abolish collective bargaining rights for public service employees – turning a budget deficit into a surplus.

Governor Scott Walker – He has shown the kind of stuff great leaders are made of. Strong, fearless, and unwavering in his resolve. He will become an inspiration for other governors facing their own budget crisis brought on by excessive union power. Perhaps we are witnessing the emergence of a future Republican rock star that will someday be standing on the national stage.

All Americans – Wisconsin will become the model for other states to follow. It will become a rallying call for other Governors across the country to fearlessly take on unions and the suffocating power they hold over taxpayers. Thanks to the unwavering courage of Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans in the face of intense enemy fire and a union-friendly media, the movement to reign in union power has gone national and will gain momentum.

- Losers -

Public Service Unions- This is a devastating blow to unions. Their precious power has been diminished. Their union dues will be diminished. And after weeks of televised union thuggery, ugly protests with bussed-in union renta-a-goons whipping up the crowd into a lynch-mob frenzy, and numerous death threats directed at the heroes – the public view of unions in general will be diminished.

Non-performing Senior Teachers – Let the house cleaning begin. Sweep out the trash and mop the floors. Incompetent teachers who care little about their students will no longer find sanctuary behind the union’s protective shield.

Democrat Deserters - By deserting their post and fleeing the state in the heat of battle, they have disgraced themselves, their party, and their supposed principles of democracy. They abandoned their constituents. They allowed the Republicans to pass their legislation – uncontested- without the voices of opposition there to be heard and without a fight. And in defeat, they are throwing temper tantrums and showing themselves as sore losers unwilling to accept that elections do indeed have consequences. Their cries of “shame! shame! shame!” will soon be turned back at themselves once Wisconsinites step away from the over-heated passions and the fog of war that have heretofore obscured their vision and the reprehensible cowardice of 14 representatives elected to serve them – the people.

The smoke over Wisconsin will ultimately clear. The union goons will get on their bus and move on to the next battle in another state. The Democrats will come to grips with the reality that they were snookered by Walker and out-maneuvered by Scott Fitzgerald. Wisconsinites will clear their heads and reflect upon what happened in their state – seeing more clearly that Walker and the Republicans merely did what the people sent them there to do.